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Inspire And Influence with @SeattleSPACE1!

Seattle
SPACE holistically empowers single parents to meet, maintain and
further enhance their familial goals for safety, support, stability and
success by providing a continuum of individualized programs tailored to
address their needs as they define them.

Our Vision:

Seattle
SPACE envisions every single parent and their family thriving in the
areas of home, interpersonal relationships, community, employment,
education, emotional well-being, physical health and spirituality.

Seattle SPACE became officially recognized as a
501(C)(3) non-profit
organization in the summer of 2014. The idea for Seattle SPACE was
conceived of and brought to fruition by single parent Founder & CEO,
Chericka Ashmann, LICSW, MHP, CMHS, MSW. Through her work with children
and families coupled with her own
experience as a single parent who was also raised by her solo mom, she
was able to identify a need for
front-end services geared toward the unique needs of the single parent.

During the recession Ms. Ashmann encountered a wide
range of single parents who were victims of circumstance beyond their
control such as a health crisis, loss of a job, death of a
spouse/partner,
discovery of special needs for their child, relocation, abuse, addiction
or
simply a lack of support and Ms. Ashmann was no
different. Many of these parents began their journey as upper
to middle class tax payers unable to access free community service
programs due to falling just outside of income guidelines and wait
lists. Unable to afford counseling services because they
didn't meet sliding fee scale criteria many suffered in silence as their
world began to crumble. Many, without previous social system
experience, were not aware of public resources available to them which
caused them
to exhaust personal assets and or become victims of financial lending
scams.
Soon these parents found themselves in a downward spiral of financial
and
emotional crisis making it difficult to care for their children. In some
cases,
the stress these parents endured led to unintentional neglect or
abuse and involvement with the state social service system. As the
nation began to recover from the recession, single parents continue to
struggle and remain at high risk for homelessness and unemployment.
While
in the trenches of single parenting herself, working with individuals
just like
herself, Ms. Ashmann saw a need for services unique to the single
parent's
plight with several preventative components in place as all of these
scenarios can be prevented.

Whether parenting single by choice, following separation/divorce,
death of a spouse/partner, deployment, or abandonment, no one can
be "prepared" for the challenges of single parenting. Seattle SPACE welcomes ALL single parents and their families
regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender
identification, income level, or whether primary custodial parent or
not.

Seattle SPACE founder and CEO, Chericka Ashmann, has a
full-time job in addition to her work for Seattle SPACE and has provided
free services since beginning work in 2013. Seattle SPACE currently has
a wait list and Ms. Ashmann is ready to go FULL-TIME as the need is
definitely there. Ms. Ashmann can no longer afford to pay out of pocket
expenses for minimal operating costs such as office space, internet,
phone, website fees, copy/fax/scanner and other misc. office supplies.
She would also like to begin a yearly road running race as they are
proven to be successful in growth and return. There are costs associated
with this. Seattle SPACE hopes to far exceed our modest goal. Your
gift is supporting a great and much needed cause and is 100% tax
deductible! Please share with your friends and challenge yourself to
donate $10 or more for each single parent you know or have seen
struggling and wanted to help. Thank you so much-please spread the word!

Inspire And Influence with Bri Seeley airs every Monday and features interviews with inspirational and influential
women (and some men too!) to highlight the positive change they bring to
our world. Want to nominate YOUR inspirational person for an interview? *CLINK!* here & tell us about 'em!